Blackberry

Update - the blog entry below is in error as the application company which makes the popular Bump product which allows information to be shared by phones which are in close proximity to one another is located at www.bu.mp.com and is called Bump Technologies. The company mentioned in this entry is located at www.bump.com. Sorry about the confusion to both companies and my readers.

I've always been a fan of technology which makes the world more productive and typically such innovations are targeted at businesses. Sure there are online dating sites which make it easier to meet others but now, technology takes this concept to the road.

Bump.com, the mobile app used to share contact and other information like applications is expanding into the realm of allowing allows people to connect with others based on their license plate.

Say you see someone go by on the road and you are interested in getting to know them.

Recently I discussed the purchase of SayNow by Google – a voice platform company complete with an API. Now, Google has taken the SayNow technology and collaborated with Twitter to allow users to call specific phone numbers to have their voice messages converted to tweets. At the moment there is no speech to text translation and this message for example is in Arabic. But thankfully the person calling also speaks English as evidenced by his mention of “adding pressure.”

Then at 2:00pm is Telecom One-on-One, a JS&A Power Networking Event. Bring lots of business cards and the sooner you start planning, the more meetings you can schedule and the more networking you can do.

Dear ITEXPO attendees - thanks again for registering and we look forward to hosting you next week. My team just sent out this email of schedules and happenings from the show and it is so detailed and explains so much that I decided to pass it along. I hope you find it worthy of keeping on hand at the event.

I have some very exciting news to share regarding ITEXPO. I alluded to it a few weeks back and now it’s here. ITEXPO West 2011 will be moving to the Austin Convention Center in Austin Texas, on September 13-15, 2011. ITEXPO was launched in San Diego, CA at the Hotel Del Coronado and moved to Long Beach and eventually Los Angeles.

Let's start with with the facts... You can't add a subwoofer in the traditional sense to your earbuds because a subwoofer typically consists of standalone driver in a wooden enclosure with separately powered amplifier. But when Fusion Electronics, the parent company of Atomic9 told me their new $50 rumble-vibration gaming earbuds pack the punch of a subwoofer without the need for power I was intrigued.

To test the headphones they sent me, I used an iPhone 4 to play More from Usher as well as Symphony No. 4 in B-flat Major from Beethoven.

What I found was earbuds which actually produced vibrating bass. It actually takes getting used to.

AT TMC, we painstakingly attempt to ensure you know as much about the participating companies at our events as possible before the conference so you can get a sense of who is there, where there expertise lies and if they may have something of value to offer you as you look to make purchasing decisions in the world of technology and communications. As a result we survey ITEXPO speakers and exhibitors before the event and ask questions which can help you connect with thought leaders you believe might be of assistance at the event.

Not everyone answers but we do send the questions to hundreds of companies and they seem to trickle in each day. Here is the list of people and companies who responded to my questions and links to their answers. I truly hope you find it useful.

As I got off the phone with former FCC Chairman Kevin Martin today after discussing his upcoming keynote, I couldn't help to feel great that ITEXPO will be one of the most exciting events of the year with respect to communications and technology. You see, when FCC Chairmen are no longer working in their government-appointed position, they are able to speak quite freely regarding the issues which have tremendous implications on virtually every aspect of tech and our lives. I say "our lives" because today connectivity has become an integral part of living in a modern, uber-connected world.

In a conversation I just had with the Chairman (the title is for life) we had a chance to touch on some of the issues he will discuss onstage, next week at ITEXPO in Miami, FL. Most likely this session will be in a Q&A format where I will be posing questions.

While the questions haven't been formalized, you can tentatively expect us to devote time to network neutrality, 4G/LTE, wireless spectrum allocation and usage, the small cell market (femto, pico, etc) and other important issues which govern our everyday usage of tech.

At ITEXPO, this one session is just one example of crucial perspective you cannot get from virtually anywhere else because, like I said, the Chairman has tremendous freedom to speak his mind.

You know I would never stoop to reminding you about the weather to persuade you to attend what I believe to the be the best tech and telecom conference in the world - OK, maybe I would.

So I was driving along this morning on the way to work and noticed I couldn't feel any of my fingers. I decided to check to make sure I was wearing gloves. I was. Then I realized I couldn't feel any of my toes and yes I had shoes on.